Red Sox to Name 28-Year-Old GM

JIMMY GOLEN

Published
6:00 pm CST, Sunday, November 24, 2002

AP Sports Writer

BOSTON (AP) _ The long and occasionally bumpy search for a Boston Red Sox general manager has come to an end.

The Red Sox called a news conference for 11 a.m. Monday and were set to announce the hiring of 28-year-old Theo Epstein, a team source told The Associated Press. He will be the youngest GM in baseball history; Randy Smith was 29 when he was hired by San Diego in 1993.

The Red Sox have been without a permanent general manager since Florida financier John W. Henry bought the team in spring training and fired Dan Duquette. Mike Port was interim GM for the season and was a candidate for the long-term job that went to Epstein.

Henry declined to confirm that Epstein was the choice. "But I can tell you I am extraordinarily happy with the end result of this intensive process," he said in an e-mail message to the AP early Monday.

Reached at home Sunday night, Port said he was "in the loop" on the decision but declined to say what it was.

"I think they plan an announcement," he said. "I think we just need to let that take care of it."

Executive vice president Charles Steinberg would neither confirm nor deny that an announcement was scheduled. But asked about the speculation that has centered on Epstein, Steinberg said, "I don't think there will be any surprises."

Epstein, who was raised near Fenway Park in the Boston suburb of Brookline, became director of baseball operations for San Diego in 2000, when Lucchino was running the Padres. Epstein also spent two years each in San Diego's media relations department and as a baseball operations assistant.

When the group headed by Henry and Lucchino bought the Red Sox in February, they brought Epstein to Boston as an assistant general manager. From the start, there were whispers that the Yale-educated Epstein would eventually take over the Red Sox reins.

"There's no time like the present," Oakland GM Billy Beane, who spoke glowingly of his interactions with Epstein, said Sunday night. "He's a bright, passionate individual. I think the world of Theo."

Beane had been Boston's first choice, even accepting the job before deciding to stay in Oakland for family reasons. While he could not confirm that Epstein would be given the job, "If it's true, he's going to be outstanding."

"He's really bright," Beane said. "With his passion and his intelligence and the people he will surround himself with, he probably can't help but succeed."

Epstein worked with Port to represent Boston at the recent general managers' meetings, and he also worked on negotiating compensation for the A's when it was thought Beane would take the job. But a day after accepting a five-year, $13 million offer, Beane decided to stay in Oakland.

After riding out the season with Port, the Red Sox pursued Beane and Toronto's J.P. Ricciardi, but both opted to stay with their current teams. Also identified as candidates were Mets assistant GM Jim Duquette, Baltimore adviser Mike Flanagan, Cincinnati director of player personnel Leland Maddox, former White Sox general manager Ron Schueler, Boston special assistant Lee Thomas and Phillies assistant GM Mike Arbuckle.

On Nov. 14, Lucchino said the ideal candidate would have experience as a major league GM.

"Experience in the front office of a baseball team, we put that right near the top of the list," Lucchino said. "It does not necessarily have to be as a GM, but it does have to be substantial front office experience."

To make up for Epstein's relative inexperience, the Red Sox are expected to surround him with GM veterans, possibly including Thomas and Port. Jim Duquette and former Montreal Expos GM Jim Beattie were also contacted about taking a position in the Boston front office.

"This is not a situation where there is only one piece to the puzzle," Lucchino said after being jilted by Beane. "Billy represented one particular approach, a very strong general manager. But there are other approaches to this."